AmaZulu coach Cavin Johnson expects a thrilling encounter against Kaizer Chiefs on Wednesday night, but wants his men to retain the ball better in the final third.
Usuthu will welcome coach Ernst Middendorp’s men at King Zwelithini Stadium and will look for their first Premier Soccer League (PSL) win in 2019 whilst Chiefs will be gunning for their second victory.
“It is a big game. Chiefs have a new coach. The new broom always sweeps clean. We have to prepare ourselves a little bit better,” Johnson was quoted as saying by IOL.
“Hold the ball better in the last third. I’m sure we will put our best foot forward and try and get the points,” said the coach.
Despite suffering a 3-1 defeat against Zesco United in their Caf Confederation Cup play-off tie in Zambia on Sunday, the Soweto giants are in high spirits after their recent 2-0 win over log leaders, Bidvest Wits last week.
On the other hand, Usuthu drew 0-0 against Highlands Park on Saturday night, and Johnson reckons Chiefs are different under the German mentor who replaced Giovanni Solinas last month.
“There’s a big difference. Under Solinas, they were a particular team and under Middendorp, they will be a different team,” continued the coach.
In addition, the former SuperSport United boss believes that goalkeeper and skipper Itumeleng Khune’s absence will not make any difference regarding the outcome of the encounter.
“Yes, we do know that (Itumeleng) Khune is out for a while (but that won’t make it easy for us). They play with a different approach. A lot of their players are coming back,” he added.
“He will surprise you at times. He will play a right-back at left-back or he will play a striker in the midfield. He does a lot of different things. We will have to see how we pass that,” concluded the coach.
-min.png?auto=webp&format=pjpg&width=640&quality=60)